The Hero with a Thousand Faces
by GBlackwell
Summary: Introspective. There were four questions. The hero who wears masks ponders exactly who he is, underneath the trappings of being a hero. "Your true face... what kind of face is it? I wonder... the face under the mask... is that... your true face?"


**This fic was ridiculously hard to write and I'm sure it's a completely failure. I hope you enjoy it.**

**Setting: Majora's Mask**

**Warning: Details are probably wrong because-through no fault of my own-my Majora's Mask copy was lost and it's been a while since I've played it.**

* * *

The Hero with a Thousand Faces

* * *

There are children on the moon, wearing masks. The masks are of monsters he has slain. They say they want to play with him, but he keeps his sword tightly gripped.

Their games are those of death, but the eyes behind the masks bespeak innocence and ignorance. So he plays and plays, and gives them what they ask for to continue these games.

And then there are the questions, such as children might ask.

* * *

"_Your friends… what kind of people… are they? I wonder… do these people… think of you… as a friend?"_

* * *

Tatl berated him a lot for keeping quiet all the time.

"Why are you so sullen? Say something!"

"What, you giving me the cold shoulder again?"

"Listen to me!"

Honestly, though, he didn't mean to be quiet all the time. He actually didn't even realize his own quietness most of the time. He was always thinking, always commenting on everything wordlessly. He heard his own thoughts all the time; it was easy to forget that others didn't.

"What are you thinking right now?"

When had he started keeping his thoughts so much to himself? He didn't know. It must have had something to do with all that time spent alone, questing, searching, no one but Epona to talk to, no one to respond. Or maybe it was more because he didn't have much to say to others, and they wouldn't listen if he did. They would just see a child mouthing off about legends and monsters and doom.

Once he had been a child trapped in an adult body. Now he felt like an adult trapped in a child's body. He didn't know which was worse.

"Why don't you ever talk? Do you not like me?"

_Is there anything to say?_

Kafei said, "You have no idea what it's like, to be trapped like this…"

Actually, he_ did_ know. And for a moment, he had wanted to speak. Honestly, _painfully _wanted to speak to this other person who knew what it was like to be a man trapped in a child's body.

(Once he had been a child in a man's body… but that time had ended.)

He stopped himself from talking the moment he realized that even if he spilled his entire story to this Kafei, _even if _this man would believe the rantings of someone he would consider a child… then the moment he sounded out the notes of the Song of Time, the clock would reset, and Kafei would only be able to look at him and ask:

"Who are _you? _I've never seen you before in my life!"

As would all the people of Termina, no matter how many times he saved them.

_Friends, friends, friends… friends can't be friends if they don't remember you…_

The whole reason he was here was because of a friend, anyway.

_(Navi)._

She had been his friend, he thought. She had stayed with him through every dungeon and every treacherous maze, been there through his every failure and triumph. He had thought that was friendship, despite the fact that she was there on the orders of the Great Deku Tree…

He remembered the moment she left, floating out of the Temple of Time without a further word. He remembered the emptiness he felt in the silence that followed.

_Why? Why didn't you stay? Why didn't you at least say goodbye…?_

What friends did he have? The people of Hyrule, who mostly could not remember him? A companion who had left once she didn't need to attend "the hero" anymore? A fairy who would only work with him to find her brother? The people of Termina, who forgot him as he set back the timeline at the end of each cycle?

Perhaps he should have said something. To Tatl, to Navi, to Kafei… to anyone.

* * *

"_What makes you happy? I wonder… what makes you happy… does it make others happy too?"_

* * *

How long had it been since he'd actually had fun?

There had been times… at least back in the Kokiri forest. They were long blurred, but there had been those times… often with the other Kokiri children, especially Saria. He would listen to her play her Ocarina, and bathe in the sun after running to catch up in a game of tag. He remembered racing through the hillsides with Epona, feeling a strange peace in between the hard task of finding the Sages.

He remembered when he had discovered slingshot games early on in his quest. Navi had sighed, telling him to be quick about it at first and later, when he decided to play over and over to get a perfect score, told him that he was wasting time, something that couldn't be afforded on their journey. After listening to her lecture on about how lives could be at stake, he had finally agreed, and decided to keep it to a minimum.

Tatl had actually asked him if he wanted to play some games to wind down. Somehow, he had been reluctant, the idea of not wasting time hammered very thoroughly into his psyche. But as she cajoled and teased and pointed out they technically had all the time in the world, he gave in.

After all this time, he found there was no joy in it. Not anymore. It was probably because he was no longer a child.

* * *

"_The right thing… what is it? I wonder… if you do the right thing… does it make everyone happy?"_

* * *

He saved Romani countless time, causing Tatl to wonder at him.

"You know, you already gotten milk from her plenty of times," she suggested, "All you're doing is wearing yourself thin, repeating this so many times."

He didn't say anything to this.

"No matter how many times you do it, eventually it will just go back to being…"

He knew that, though. But he couldn't help remember the first time he tried to help her, when he had failed to shoot off those… _things, a_nd she had been dragged into the sky, screaming. And then, when she had come back, the dead look in her eyes…

So he teleported to Romani ranch and shot off those things whenever it was time and he had the opportunity. And he did similarly with the lady who was robbed at midnight, saving her every time, and he tried to save the poor monkey from being boiled to death each chance he got, despite no longer needing to, and he tried to help Kafei, and the postman, and the soldier dying alone by the canyon…

But he couldn't help everyone in every time. So he'd find himself sitting quietly for a moment in the middle of navigating through another ancient temple, realizing that at this particular moment, Romani was being dragged off screaming, or the monkey had probably been boiled to death, or… or…

As he went through the days again and again, he realized that there was no way he could help e_veryone. _Eventually, he would have to stop resetting time, and allow three days to elapse before the final battle. And in those three days, there was simply not enough time to help every person that he had encountered in his quest who needed it.

_No matter how desperately you try… you cannot save everyone…_

He is no longer a child, so he does not bother weeping over this.

* * *

"_Your true face… what kind of… face is it? I wonder… the face under the mask… is that… your true face?"_

* * *

The Deku people of Termina tell a story to their children.

In this story, there was a princess who, trying to do the best for her people, secretly entered an ancient temple to combat a great evil that was poisoning her 's waters. But when she didn't return for days, weeks, and eventually months, her father the king turned his ire on the monkey who had led her to the temple, and so he scheduled the poor beast for execution.

All seemed to be lost, when suddenly a lone Scrub, a wanderer unknown to the people of the Deku Kingdom, decided to offer to clear the beast's name and go and save the princess himself. The king thought that he was either a fool or a useless braggart, but did not stop his attempt.

The Scrub saved the princess and cleared the name of the monkey who had aided her, and then vanished without a trace, never to be seen again.

_There is likewise a tale among the Gorons…_

A desolate winter had swept over the mountains, causing many of their people to freeze or die of hunger. Their greatest hero, Darmani, decided to take it upon himself to go to the heart of the mountains and discover the cause, but he died on the way.

Just when his people had lost hope, their hero rose from the dead, defeated the evil monster that had brought on the harsh winter, and brought spring back to them. Then, once his people were convinced he was there to stay, he vanished without a trace.

_And again, among the Zoras…_

There was the tale of Mikau, a famous guitar player who decided to go from being a celebrity to being a hero when some pirates stole some Zora eggs. He did what no Zora had done, and brought the eggs back safely to be hatched, curing their mother, Lulu, before he too wandered off, only for his band members to find a grave marked, "Here lies Mikau" on the shores of the sea…

And then, there was the Hero of Time, the legendary hero of another land entirely.

_But there was no proof the Hero of Time had ever existed. Peace and prosperity reigned in Hyrule, with only a shadow of a darker time that never happened hanging over in stories passed from person to person. Even Princess Zelda, the great Sage, could not recall such a dark time, though she did remark that the boy in green seemed like, "Someone she had known a long time…"_

* * *

In all of his life, he had never had to answer these questions, so he didn't when the children with innocent eyes and monstrous masks asked him these things. He was silent, as he normally was. Inside, though his mind reeled, for the first time challenged in all of its stable assumptions.

_Friends…?_

_Who are my…?_

_Have I ever been…?_

_To do good…_

_True face…_

It was only when he was fighting Majora that the answers suddenly came, bursting forth from his heavy heart.

"I am… I am… I am _whatever I need to be!" _he shouted, his voice cracking as he did so, "It doesn't matter… it doesn't matter what my true face is! Whatever people need…" _A Zora, a Deku Scrub, a Goron, a Hero of Time… _"I'll be…"

Tatl shrieked, "What are you going on about?! Have you lost your mind?!"

He ignored her, and continued swinging his sword at the twitching form of Major as it danced away from his strikes.

"If no one remembers me…" _it doesn't matter, I don't need people's love to continue._

"If it doesn't make me happy…" _Happiness is irrelevant…_

When he brought the final strike down on Majora he was mad with pain and fear. Every part of his body screamed, and he screamed with it until there was no room left in his lungs.

He kept going, somehow, and he won. At the monster's corpse, he raised one more wearied swing, before collapsing. He found himself blanking out, to Tatl's concerned yet soothing voice.

"That's enough, Link," she said, "You did it. You can rest, now…"

* * *

_Dawn of a New Day_

* * *

He woke up to find himself on the grass in Termina Field, tears of anguish and fear staining his cheeks. He wiped them away, momentarily embarrassed that someone might have seen them. Then, he looked up: the moon was back in its place, nearly invisible in the early morning sky.

"You slept in," Tatl laughed, "I've never seen you do that before."

He was on edge, at first, but he saw that all had been made well again. Tatl was reunited with her brother. In town, Anju and Kafei were getting married. And Romani was happily practicing archery as she prepared for "their" next invasion. Even the Skull Kid found forgiveness and acceptance.

There were also people that he hadn't been able to help. But there was always that. All in all, peace had come back to Termina, and it was _good. _

He had never seen Tatl act so naturally and joyfully. It was that she had her brother and her real friend back; he could tell as they excitedly carried on a conversation without him. He was numb, but he understood. She would go off with the Skull Kid and her brother now, and he would could continue on his quest.

He said a farewell and gave a brief nod before he rode off on Epona. He felt a strange ache in his heart as he realized he'd probably never see the loudmouthed, feisty fairy again. He thought of Navi, and how he'd likely never see her again, either.

_Please stop me. Please tell me you'll come with me…_

He stopped the train of thoughts right as it came. It was foolish, he decided, to covet the happiness his companion was feeling now, or resent the fact that they would part. He had known it would be this way from the beginning, as she had said she was _only _going to stick with him until she could get her brother back. It would be silly to expect more now.

He was not a child. He knew not to expect silly things of others.

"…Link?"

He froze as he heard her voice carry over to him.

"…Thank you…"

He nodded again, "Thank you too," he said. His voice suddenly felt hoarse, but he doubted she could hear him anyway.

The sound of Epona's hooves was his only company as he went again to search the Lost Woods.

* * *

It was much later-when he was away from Termina-that he dismounted and took out his masks. He looked down at each one of them: Darmani, Mikau, the Deku Scrub… and for a moment thought about all of the people he had met with those masks. He thought of people who addressed him as Mikau, the star, but more importantly as a great friend. He thought of the Goron people who had cheered him as their savior, and the Goron baby that had slept at the sound of his drum. He thought of the Butler to the Deku King, who had told him sadly that his face was "exactly like my son's…"

He buried the masks underneath a tree. It seemed like a fitting end to all of their tales, tales that he had borrowed, tales that he had completed… he thought of the many people who would remember them fondly.

And then he sat by the tree he had buried them under, closed his eyes, and breathed.

It was then that Link wondered who, if anyone, would remember _him. _There was Darmani, Mikau, the lone Deku Scrub, and the Hero of Time for their legends, and they could keep those names... but would anyone, anyone at all, remember…?

_Perhaps in the end the Hero with a Thousand faces… has no true face at all._

* * *

***whispers* P.S…. **_**Link is the first Time Lord.**_

**What? I said nothing. Nothing at all…**


End file.
